Astronomy and astrophysics professor Eric Ford will present “Exoplanets: The Search for Habitable Worlds” at this week’s Research Unplugged talk, at 12:30 p.m. on March 26 in Schlow Centre Region Library.

The Journal of Biological Chemistry has featured as its Paper of the Week research led by Stephen J. Benkovic, Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry and Holder of the Eberly Family Chair in Chemistry at Penn State.

Donghui Jeong, assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics, has been honored with the Outstanding Young Researcher Award from the Association of Korean Physicists in America. Given annually since 1994, the award recognizes young Korean physicists working in North America who have the potential for making creative and substantive advances in their subfield of physics and achieving professional success as a physicist. The award was presented during the Forum on International Physics reception at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society in March 2015.

Robert H. Singer, Harold and Muriel Block Chair in the Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology and co-director of the Gruss Lipper Biophotonics Center at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, will present the 2014-15 Ernest C. Pollard Lecture at 4 p.m. on Monday, March 30, in 101 Althouse Laboratory on the Penn State University Park campus. The free public lecture is titled "Following Single mRNAs from Birth to Death in Living Cells."

Robert McGinty, a Damon Runyon Postdoctoral Fellow, in the laboratory of Penn State Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Song Tan, has been presented with the Damon Runyon Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists. McGinty is the first Penn State scientist to win this national career award. The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation selects for this award a group of its postdoctoral fellows who have greatly exceeded expectations and show promise to be leaders in the field of cancer research. The award provides additional funding for innovative cancer research while accelerating the transition of the recipients to an independent research career.

A two-year grant from the PML Consortium awarded to scientists in the Eberly College of Science aims to unravel sequence variations within the JC virus genome that could cause the development of a rare fatal brain disease.

Ryan Henrici, who will graduate in May with a degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from the Eberly College of Science, has been awarded the 2014-15 Astronaut Scholarship Foundation scholarship.

The 18th Environmental Chemistry and Microbiology Student Symposium, hosted by the Student Association of Environmental Science and Engineering, will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. on April 24 and from 9:10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on April 25 in the Forest Resources Building. The deadline for submitting presentation abstracts is March 20.

Neha Gupta, a first-year student in the Schreyer Honors College will present “Young Humanitarian: The Inspiring Story Behind the Empower Orphans Foundation” at 12:30 p.m. on March 19 in Schlow Centre Region Library.

A free screening of the documentary film "Resistance" followed by a panel discussion and question-and-answer session featuring the filmmaker and Penn State scientists will be held on March 26 from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at the State Theatre at 130 W. College Ave. in State College.